About Siddhar's (Siddha's)

Who is a siddha ? A siddha is one who has attained siddhi,
i.e. "power, prowess, strength, ability", then a special kind of
psychic and supernatural, miraculous, occult power. There are eight
kinds of super natural powers called as "Ashtama Siddhis":

Anima (shrinking) -- Power of becoming the size
of an atom and entering the smallest beings.

Mahima (illimitability) -- Power of becoming
mighty and co-extensive with the universe. The power of increasing
one's size without limit.

Prapthi (fulfillment of desires) -- Capacity to
enter all the worlds from Brahma Loga to the neither world. It is
the power of attaining everything desired.

Prakasysm (irresistable will) -- Power of
disembodying and entering into other bodies (metempsychosis) and
going to heaven and enjoying what everyone aspires for, simply from
where he stays.

Isithavam (supremacy) -- Have the creative
power of God and control over the Sun, the moon and the elements and

Vasithavam (dominion over the elements) --
Power of control over King and Gods. The power of changing the
course of nature and assuming any form.

A classical definition of siddhas is given by Siddhar Thirumoolar:
"Those who live in yoga and see the divine light and power through
yoga are the siddhars (Tamil Chittar)".

According to Kamil Zvelebil, there are some features which are
typical for all or almost all siddhars as a body of thinkers.

First, in sharp opposition to the bhakti tradition, they refuse
to allow themselves be carried away by idol worship in particular
temples.

Second, in contrast to bhakti which emphasizes passionate
devotion to God, the siddhar emphasize knowledge, yoga practice, and
character, moral behavior, right conduct. Anger, lust and egoism are
the worst sins.

Third, almost all siddhar's raise a protest against caste and
casteism.

The whole atmosphere of siddha thinking is empirical and
experimental. Their writings are not in the nature of clear cut
formalized statements of any well defined doctrine. Hence, it is
difficult to extricate a philosophical system out of their writings,
at least at the present state of our knowledge of their works.
However, it is possible to point out a few essential features, and one
day, when their writings are better known, it should be possible to
state their philosophy more explicitly.

This web site is devoted to publishing the works of siddhars for
the internet community. Most of the works are available only in Tamil
and it is possible that the author of document interprets things in
his own way while translating the original text. An attempt is made to
present information about siddhars here.

References

Chapter Eighteen (Pages 364 & 365) of book entitled "Eighteen
Siddhars in History of Siddha Medicine" by Mr. N. Kandasamy Pillai,
Former Member, Siddha Science Development Committee and Published by
the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1979.

Chapter Fourteen (Pages 224 & 225) of book entitled "The Smile
of Murugan of Tamil Literature of South India" by Kamil Zvelebil and
Published by E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands in 1973 (ISBN 90 04
03591 5).

Song 1490 of "Thirumandiram Moovayiram" by Siddhar Thirumoolar.

The 18 Siddhars

There are 18 siddhars in the tamil siddha tradition. Each of the
siddhars had lived in varied places under different names. The
following are most common names of the 18 siddhars. They are listed in
the order of their time period.

The Other Siddhars

Apart from the 18 siddhars given above, there are also other
siddhars. It is possible that the siddhars given below are the same
siddhars (the 18 siddhars), but under different name. They might also
be the disciples of the siddhars, who by the process 'Transmigration
of Souls' became the one and same as the Guru himself. Only a true
Siddha Yogi shall do any classification with full confidence.